Of Skin and Scales
by messie2624
Summary: Lukas has been missing for two years now. His brother, Emil, and his cousin, Tino, have been looking for him ever since. But their search might lead them to one place their kind has never gone before: land. Mermaid!AU dennor, sufin, and various other pairings.
1. Prologue

_Lukas struggled in the net. He had gotten tangled in a stray fishing net and had washed up on shore. His tail started to dry up and was soon replaced by two human legs. He stared at the foreign objects that replaced his navy tail. _

_'How strange,' he thought. 'What's wrong with me? What's going on?' _

_"Hey!" a voice called out. "You okay, dude?" A man with spikey blond hair and an obnoxious voice approached. He knelt down next to him. He saw that Lukas was tangled in the fishnet. "Here, let me help you." _

_Lukas squirmed, but eventually the stranger managed to untangle him. He saw that Lukas wasn't wearing anything. He blushed before calling out, "Hej, bror! Get over here! And bring a towel!" _

_Another blond man came around the corner. He was tall and had glasses and a permanent glare. He spoke with a weird accent. "Wh't do ya ne'd the tow'l f'r, Mathais?" Then his eyes fell on Lukas and his eyes widened. _

_The spikey-haired stranger, who Lukas guess was Mathias, took the towel from the tall guy. He wrapped the trowel around Lukas. "We need to get him some clothes. Come on up," he brought the young merman to his feet. Mathias smiled at the boy in his arms. "So what's name, cutie?" _

_"It's Lukas," he shivered. _

_"I'm Mathias Køhler and this is my half-brother, Berwald Oxensteirna," he gestured toward the tall guy who grunted and nodded. "Don't worry, Luke, we'll take home with us and get you some food and clothes." _

_"My name's Lukas, not Luke," Lukas grumbled. _

_"But Luke's so much cuter~!" _

_"Mathias, don't har'ss the p'or boy," Berwald grumbled. _

_"Yeah, yeah, whatever Waldy," Mathias winked at his brother. _

_Together the pair led Lukas away, Mathias talking the whole way. Lukas looked back at the ocean. His entire family was back there, his brother, his cousin. Would he ever see them again? He looked up at Mathias. He started to feel funny, like something about him was making him feel this way. He was so confused. In his daze, he allowed the obnoxious man to lead him away. Maybe he would get to go back. One day..._

* * *

**AN: So, prologue is done. Thoughts? And the main story is going to be about Emil and Tino. This is just a flashback to explain what happened to Lukas. Anyway, any feedback is appreciated. **

**Disclaimer: Hetalia does not belong to me. **


	2. Chapter 1

_**TWO YEARS LATER**_

Emil was worried. He was swimming back and forth in the mermaid equivalent of human pacing. No one has heard from his older brother, Lukas in about two years. He had gone missing near the coast of Florida. Emil was trying to figure out where his brother might have gone off to. He would need help. He swam to find his cousin, Tino.

Tino wasn't very hard to find. He was often found talking to a rather nerdy merman named Eduard. However, he wasn't at the moment. He looked like he was sulking alone. Emil swam over.

"What's on your mind, Tino?"

The older merman jumped. "Oh, Emil. I didn't see you there."

Emil shrugged. "Not many people do. Why are you sulking? You are usually very happy."

"I was thinking about your brother. You know the anniversary of his disappearance is coming up soon."

Emil squeezed his eyes shut. "I know. Tino, I've been thinking."

"About?"

"We have to find him."

"Emil, where would we even start?"

Emil thought about this. He knew his brother was interested in human culture, and that he had gone missing off the coast of Crystal Bay. He suddenly had an idea. "Tino, where are Lukas's weird looking scrolls about humans?"

Tino frowned. "Emil, I don't think now is the time to read about humans."

"No! Lukas was trying to learn about them before he disappeared. Maybe he found something!"

Tino's eyes lit up. "Maybe you're right!" They both swam off to Lukas's old room.

* * *

An hour later, Emil was getting extremely frustrated. They had looked through piles of the strange scrolls, and there was entirely nothing useful. He groaned. "This is useless!"

Tino looked over his cousin. "There's got to be something that we can use, surely!"

Emil was about to protest, when a unopened scroll caught his eye. He opened it cautiously. His faced turned to shock. "Tino, you're gonna want to see this."

"Wait is it?"

"We can be human."

"What?!"

"We can grow these weird things when we're dry. Our tails fade into these things called legs."

Tino looked awed. "Wow, really?"

Emil nodded. "Maybe we could find him."

Tino tilted his head. "How so?"

"We grow these leg things and go on land to find him!"

"Are you sure we can do that?" Tino seemed worried.

"If we find Lukas, it'll be worth it."

Tino thought about that for a moment. "You're right, but we would at least ask someone's opinion first."

"Who'd you have in mind?" Emil prayed to Posiedon that he wasn't talking about his parents. He'd be grounded forever if they found out he had even _considered_ going to the surface.

Tino beamed. "Eduard, of course. He's a genius!"

Emil crossed his arms. "I'm sure the man you're betrothed to won't like the idea of you going to the surface."

Tino rolled his eyes. "Oh please, I have no intention of telling him what we're going to do, just if it's possible."

"Fine, if this blows up in our faces, I get to say 'I told you so,'"

* * *

**AN: Well, that's it for this chapter. The first couple chapters will be about Emil and Tino's search for Lukas. The last chapter was what happened to Lukas. A big part of this story is the idea of arranged marriages from birth and that mermaid's idea of love is very different from humans. Oh, and two of the same gender mermaids can produce offspring, but that won't be a big part of the story. Anyway, tell me what you think. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia, I only own this plot.**


	3. Chapter 2

"YOU'RE PLANNING TO DO WHAT!?"

"So much for not telling what we were planning to do," Emil grumbled, his violet tail flicking around irritably.

"Eduard, please understand! Lukas might be on land!" Tino pleaded.

"Forget it, Tino! You could die up there! For all we know, Lukas might be dead!"

"Don't say that!" Emil snapped. He was irritated enough as it was and Eduard was not really helping. He down right refused to let Tino go to the surface. Emil was about ready to punch him in the face, or at least slap him with his tail. "Don't you dare think that he's dead! He has to be alive! The guards told me that they're searching for him! 'We wouldn't stop until we find him,' they said! 'You can't do anything until you're older,' they said! And Mother always kept an eye on me! She practically kept me under lock and key. I couldn't do anything, she wouldn't let me! And she always tried to keep my mind off him. Well, guess what? I'm done with all this crap! As much as I hate this, I need help, you're going to give it to me, or so help me, I'll–" Emil was silenced by Tino's hand clasping over his mouth.

Eduard rubbed at his temples. "Emil, your brother hasn't returned or been seen in over a year. We have to assume the worst."

Tino gingerly put his hand on Eduard's shoulder. "Eduard, is there anything you might know about humans that might put all this to rest?"

Eduard's face softened and Emil wanted to gag. Thank Triton he wasn't betrothed yet. He was not looking forward to it at all.

"Well," Eduard said, "I guess I could look in the Ancient Scrolls, only if you two promise me you won't do anything stupid."

Tino nodded earnestly while Emil just huffed. "Yeah, whatever."

* * *

After what seemed like hours of Eduard pouring over scrolls, Emil started to get restless. He started leasurly swimming around the library, his tail flicking lazily through the water. His mind started to wonder. He remembered the day Lukas left.

_"Brother? Where are you going?" Emil had noticed his brother sneaking out. _

_Lukas turned around. He smiled sadly when he saw the younger merman. "Oh hello, Emil. What are you doing up?" _

_"I saw you leaving. Where are you going?"_

_"I'm going out on a hunt with father. It is my understanding that I must be married in a few years." _

_Emil nodded. Mermen went on hunts to find the best shells and treasures to give to your betrothed. Emil didn't really like the idea of mating. He liked to be free and he knew his brother did too. _

_"Brother?"_

_"Yes Emil?_

_"Is it possible to, I don't know, maybe, _choose_ our mates?" _

_Lukas paused briefly in his preparations. He looked towards his younger brother. "Maybe one day we can," he shook his head, "but that day might not come for many years." _

_Emil sulked on his brother's bed. "I was afraid of that answer." _

_Lukas chuckled. "I'm sure your mate won't be that bad." _

_"But I don't want a mate!" _

_"I know you don't, I don't either, but we don't have much say in the matter." _

_Emil continued to pout. Lukas hugged him and whispered in his ear, "I'll be back before you know it, little brother." _

_Emil squeezed back. "You better."_

Emil smile at the fond memory. Then, of course, someone had to ruin it.

"I found something!" Eduard called out to him.

Emil snapped back to reality. He saw Tino already looking over Eduard's shoulder. Emil swam over to see what was so important.

Eduard pointed to a part of the scroll. "It says here that merfolk on the surface can be come human. Their tails dry up and are replaced by human legs."

Emil rolled his eyes. "We knew that already."

Eduard shot a glare over his shoulder. "You didn't let me finish. When, your legs get submerged in water, your tail starts to reappear. It disappears when they are dry again."

"So, is there is a possibility that Lukas might be alive?" Tino asked.

Eduard skimmed the scroll again. "I don't see anything that would say otherwise."

"That's all I need to know," Emil said as he started to swim away.

"Oh no," Tino muttered.

"What is it?" Eduard asked.

"That's Emil's determined face. I'll go after him before he does something he'll regret," Tino started to swim after his cousin.

"What a brat," Eduard muttered under his breath. "He better not get Tino into trouble."

* * *

When Tino finally caught up to his cousin, he was nearly out of breath. "Emil, what are you–" he stopped short when he saw Emil packing. "Where do you think you're going?"

Emil never looked up or stopped what he was doing. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm going to find my brother."

"Emil–"

"No! I don't care what any of you say! I am sick and tired of people telling what to do! I'm going to find him whether you like it or not! Now, are you coming or what?"

"What?"

Emil shot a glance at his cousin. "I said, are you coming?"

"Eduard told me that I shouldn't."

'Oh, that's a valid reason to do anything,' Emil thought bitterly. 'Stupid betrothals.' One thing Emil didn't like about arranged marriages was the possessiveness and controlling nature of some merfolk over their mates and that their partners just kind of went with it. Like it or not, Tino was one of those merfolk who just went with it. Emil met pretty much all of his potential mates, and really didn't like any of them.

He rolled his eyes at his cousin. "No, he said not to do anything stupid, and I don't think finding my brother is stupid."

Tino sighed. "You're going with or without me, aren't you?"

Emil nodded. "Yup."

"Well, I'm coming too, then. To keep an eye on you. You have a knack for causing trouble."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever floats your boat."

Tino tilted his head. "Whatever floats my _what_?"

Emil shrugged. "It was a phrase I read in one of Lukas's weird scroll things." He slung the sack over his shoulder. "Coming? Last chance to back out and go back to your _mate_." He spat out that word like a curse.

Tino huffed. "Let's just go before I change my mind."

* * *

**AN: I hope this chapter was better than the last one. And a special thanks Silverwind10123 for all of your wonderful tips and suggestions. Now, this won't be updated for awhile as I am going on vacation before school starts, but I will be sure to update as soon as I can. Favorites, follows, and reviews give me life. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own hetalia. **


	4. Chapter 3

Lukas stared out over the water. What a crazy two years it had been. He couldn't believe how simple the transition from merman to human. Mathias and Berwald had been extremely patient with him. They were also rather protective of him, which he was thankful for and a bit annoyed by. Mathias downright to let Lukas on his own two legs until he knew he could handle it. That's how he ended up moving into the brothers' two-story beach house. It was a charming kind of quaint, with cream walls and pale blue trim. The wooden furniture was all handcarved, most of it by Berwald himself. The house smelled like those danishes Mathias loved to bake. What Lukas loved most was the view from the balcony. The only thing he could see was endless ocean and rocky shoreline. Lukas took in a deep breath of ocean air and smiled contentedly. This was the life.

He felt two strong arms encircle his waist and a head rested on his shoulder. "Hey Lukas."

"Hello Mathias. I didn't hear you come out."

The danish man nuzzled his cheek. "That's because I'm ninja, babe. What do you want to do tomorrow?"

"What did you have in mind?" Lukas tried to ignore the flutter in his chest that happened whenever Mathias was close.

"Well, I was thinking since Berwald is busy with his classes and I've been dying to get you in the kitchen again, maybe we could make something together and eat it out here while we watch the sunset."

Lukas turned so he and Mathias were chest to chest. He wrapped his arms around his neck. "That sounds wonderful."

"Would you be up for a midnight swim as well? I knew your fish parts need to breathe," Mathias smirked.

Lukas punched his arm lightly. "You know I can't go into the ocean. I'd go out to far and... I'll be seen for sure. And stop calling my tail 'fish parts.'"

"Relax, babe. I was talking about the saltwater pool that came with the house. It's perfect for a swim with my mermaid boyfriend~"

Lukas rolled his eyes at the blond's antics. Yes, Mathias knew he was a merman. Berwald did too. Lukas allowed himself to slip into the memory.

* * *

_Lukas had been relaxing in the bathtub, part of his tail hanging out of it, when the door suddenly burst open. _

_"Hey Luke! I got a great idea for–" The taller man stared at the tail for a good long moment before promptly passing out. _

_"Mathias!" _

_It was that moment that Berwald came up to investigate. He looked at. Lukas than his brother on the floor and than back to Lukas. He tossed Lukas, who had pulled himself out of the tub, a towel. "H're. I'll take care of 'im. Dry off, then we'll talk. A'righ'?" _

_Lukas nodded and started to dry off as Berwald dragged his brother downstairs. Lukas quickly got dressed and raced down the stairs. Berwald was proping Mathias, who was still passed out, up in a chair. Berwald looked over towards Lukas. "Th't_ was fast."

_Lukas subconsciously fiddled with the hem of his shirt. "I've had a lot of practice over the last month." _

_"So it wou'd seem." _

_"You probably want me to explain..." _

_The Swede nodded. "Th't wou'd be nice." _

_"W-Well as you know, I-I'm a merman. I come from the Kingdom of the Atlantic, along the Nordic Shelf. I live in a small village on the outskirts of the kingdom. I live with my mother, my father, and my little brother, Emil. I-I—" I'm betrothed. No, no, this is a new start. I don't have to get married. "And that's about it, really. You probably think I'm crazy." _

_"Nah, I beli've yah." _

_Lukas's head snapped up. "You do?" _

_"I liv' with Mathias. I've seen an' heard weirder." _

_The more Lukas thought about it, the more it made sense. _

_Mathias regain conscienceness a few moments later. "Wha-what's going on?" He took a glance at Lukas. "I'm not crazy, right? You don't have fish parts, I'm just seeing things?" _

_"I'm sorry, fish parts? It's called a tail!" _

_"So, I'm not hallucinating?" _

_Lukas still looked peeved about having his tail called "fish parts," so Berwald answered for him. "Nej, yer not." _

_"Oh, oh, okay. Glad to know I'm not crazy." _

_"That's debatable." _

_"Heeeeeyyy!"_

* * *

After that, it was just kind of accepted.

Lukas gave his companion a small smile. "That sounds wonderful."

Mathias's smile grew. "I knew you'd love it!" His hands settled on the merman's waist and gently touched foreheads. Lukas wasn't a big fan of a whole lot of touching, but he did enjoy the little touches when they were alone. "Tell me, Luke, what did I ever do to deserve you?"

"I'm still trying to figure that out."

"Hey!"

"Kidding, kidding. You know I love you." He was taught to hate those three words as a child, but, in truth, love gas brought him nothing but joy.

"I love you too." Mathias kissed Lukas's cheek before meeting his lips.

Lukas broke off the kiss and allowed himself to be cuddled by the taller man. As they watched the sun set, Lukas only had one thing on his mind. _This is the life._

* * *

**AN: Wow, this came out waayyy later than I wanted it to, but better late than never! I hope it met everyone's expectations. So, anyway, I thought it would be nice to check up on Lukas and see how he's doing. He and Mathias are dating. I hope this chapter makes sense. Don't worry, Emil and Tino will be back next chapter. A special thanks to all those who faved, followed, and reviewed. **

**To all those who are reading my other story, Never Looking Back, the next chapter should be out soon. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia. **


	5. Chapter 4

Emil couldn't help but feel excited. They were actually going to shore! He had never been beyond the kelp forests at home and after Lukas disappeared he was confined to the house.

"Uh, Emil? Are you sure we won't get into trouble?" Trust Tino to always be worrying about something.

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'm sure we'll get into all sorts of trouble."

"That's what I was afraid of," Tino grumbled.

"You can't tell me that some part of you that isn't at least a little bit excited."

"Well..."

"Tino, where's your sense of adventure?"

Tino crossed his arms. "I've been frequently told I don't have any."

"By who?"

"By you."

Emil blushed slightly. "Oh, right. Sorry."

Tino huffed. "Let's just get to the surface before I regret this anymore than I already do."

Emil smiled. "There's your sense of adventure. I knew it was buried somewhere deep, deep, deep, deep, very extremely deep down!"

Tino looked up at the water above them. "Emil, look at that," he pointed to where the water looked more clear than blue and it looked really strange, like it was a mosaic.

Emil swam ahead and reached out to touch it. His fingers went right through it. He turned to his cousin, a huge grin on his face. "We're here, Tino." With that, Emil broke the surface and took in his first breath of air. Tino wasn't far behind.

"We did it."

"Don't sound so surprised."

Tino started to laugh but his features quickly warped into horror. "Emil! Look out!"

Emil didn't have a enough time to respond before his cousin pulled him away from the strange object speeding past them. They both instinctively covered their faces from the splashing water.

The strange object slowed to a stop and went over near them. A boy peered over the side, a slightly interested look on his face. He had dark brown eyes and black hair that framed his face. Two older guys looked over the side as well. One had glasses and the other's black hair was in a very strange style. Emil had never seen anyone like them.

"You, like, almost ran into our boat," said the boy.

"Leon!" cried a guy with glasses while the other person's eyes widened.

Leon ignored them. "You're lucky Kiku was driving. If Yao was here, he'd probably have run you over."

The guy with glasses face-palmed. "I apologize for my brother being so blunt. Oh! We're being rude! I'm Cheng. This is Kiku and Leon." Kiku bowed respectfully.

Tino smiled. He loved meeting new people, something that didn't happen often in the small village they lived in. "It's nice to meet you! My name is Tino and this is my cousin Emil."

"Hey," Emil gave a small wave.

"So," Cheng began. "Are you lost? Do you need a lift back to shore?"

"A lift?" Emil asked. He never heard that expression before.

"Yeah, you know, like a ride back," Leon clarified.

Tino and Emil exchanged confused looked. How could you ride something that wasn't alive? Unless... Tino reached out to touch the boat. He felt it vibrate underneath his fingertips. He pulled back in alarm. "It is alive!"

Emil's eyes widened as he backed up a little bit. Cheng, Kiku, and Leon exchanged glances. Are these guys for real?

"No, Tino was it?, it's not alive," Cheng explained patiently. "Listen, do you need someone to take you to shore? It's a pretty long swim."

Emil nodded earnestly. "Yes, I need to find my brother."

"Then come on up. Ladder's around back."

Tino tilted his head. "Ladder?"

"Umm, it's, like, the thing you climb up?" Leon pointed to the set of metal poles with smaller poles across it. "We'll set some towels out for you."

Emil opted to skip the ladder and use the poles to help pull him up so he could sit on the edge. Tino followed his lead. Kiku walked over toward them. "I have your towels..." he trailed off when he saw the tails on the young mermen. Cheng gasped while Leon's eyes widened.

Tino, of course, automatically jumped to the worst case senerio. "We can explain!" He said quickly. "Please don't kill us!"

"Kill you? Why would we do that?" Kiku asked.

Tino looked down at his tail. He didn't have an answer for that.

Cheng took a quick look around. "Here let's you on board before anyone sees you two. Kiku, help me with Tino. Leon, can you handle Emil?"

Leon looked over Emil. "Yeah, I'll be fine." He draped a towel around Emil's tail and picked him up bridal style. Leon smirked when Emil instinctively wrapped his arms around his neck. "You know, you're kinda cute."

Emil felt his face heat up. "I'm what?"

"Cute. I said you're cute." Leon put Emil down on one of the seats. "Don't worry, that's a good thing."

"We're not that far from shore," said Cheng. "Should take about ten minutes."

Tino nodded. "Okay."

Emil suddenly felt his stomach start to churn and his tail started to tingle. He looked down to see what was wrong. He was surprised to see his beautiful violet scales fade into pale skin. His tail slowly spit into two slim human legs. Emil turned to his cousin. Tino was curiously poking the skin where his turquoise scales once were.

"So, who were you— hey, where'd your tail go?" Leon asked.

"Our tails dry up when we go on land or when we're dry. They turn into these thing." Tino explained and wiggled his legs to his point. His towel came loose in the process. Cheng's face went bright red and quickly looked away. Kiku, on the other hand, looked quite intrigued.

"We'll have to get them some clothes."

Tino blushed and fixed his towel.

"So," Cheng interrupted. "You said you were looking for someone?"

Emil nodded. "Yes, my brother Lukas."

Cheng raised an eyebrow. "Bondevik?"

"I just said his name was Lukas."

"No, no, Bondevik's his last name."

"What's that?" Tino chimed in. As far as they knew, merfolk didn't use "last names."

"It's a like a second name."

Emil crossed his arms. "Why would need two names? Don't you people know who you are?"

"Are we really talking about the history of last names right now?" Leon interrupted.

"Hai, we should be focused on getting to shore and finding your brother, Emil," Kiku spoke up.

"Could you describe Lukas for us?" Tino said before his cousin managed to get a negative word in.

"Blond hair, blue eyes, wears that cross pin, plays the violin, anything sound familiar?"

"Just blond hair and blue eyes."

"What's a violin?" Emil asked.

"That's, like, not important right now."

"Well, it looks like we're here," Cheng gestured to the rocky shoreline the seemed it go on for miles.

Kiku turned to the two mermen. "You two will probably need help walking."

Tino blushed and nodded.

"You'll probably get the hang of it rather quickly. The real challenge will be keeping your balance and the effects of gravity," Cheng explained.

Leon winced. "Oh crap, we didn't think about gravity." He snapped his fingers as a sudden thought came to him. And wait a sec, there's something else we need." He went over one of the bins and started digging through it. He smirked when he found what he was looking for. "Bingo," he said pulling out several pairs of sandals. "Let's see how these fit you guys."

"Excellent thinking, Leon," said Cheng as he took a couple pairs from him.

Leon smirked. "Yeah, I know I'm a genius."

That gave Kiku an idea. He started digging around some of the other bins. "I'm sure the others must have left some clothes on here... Aha!" He pulled out two flannel shirts and a couple pairs of shirts. "These are some of are brother's. They should be sufficient until we get you better clothes. See if these fit."

"I can't thank you enough," Tino said as Cheng helped him into a shirt.

"It's the least we can do. We did almost run you over," Cheng explained.

Once the two mermen were properly clothed, Kiku and Leon helped them to stand. Emil caught on to walking fairly quickly, only stumbling a little bit. Tino, on the other hand had some serious trouble. He simply could not stand on his legs without them wobbling out of control. Cheng and Kiku had to help hold him up.

"The boardwalk isn't far from here," Cheng said. "We can walk so you two get practice. There's also places to get clothes and food."

"Good. I'm starving," Leon said.

Kiku rolled his eyes. "You ate three hours ago."

"So? I'm hungry."

Cheng sighed. "We can get food on shore. Try to behave until them."

Leon huffed. "Yeah whatever." He turned to Emil. "Think you can walk on your own?"

Emil hesitantly nodded. "Yes, I think so."

Tino nervously raised his hand. "I think I'll need help."

Kiku nodded. "Cheng and I will help you until you get the hang of it."

Tino nodded. "Thank you."

Kiku and Cheng then helped Tino to stand once again and stabilize him while Leon only need to help Emil stand.

As they were taken off of the strange un-alive thing, Emil looked back at the ocean. He told himself he wouldn't return home without his brother, yet another part of him told him that he belonged in the ocean. Emil shook away those thoughts. He had to find him, he had to. He had come this far. With a renewed sense if determination, Emil walked onto shore and into land, the ocean far behind him.

* * *

**AN: This chapter took a lot longer to write than I had hoped. My writer's block defiantly didn't help, but all of your reviews helped to inspire me faster. I hope to make updates more frequent in the future.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**


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